Chapter XIII (6)

[597:2] Canon xiii., "Canones Apost. et Concil. Berolini," 1839.

[598:1] In the case of Novatian. Euseb. vi. 43.

[599:1] These presbyters were called _Doctores_. Cyprian, Epist. xxxiv. p. 80.

[599:2] It would appear that, even at the time of the Council of Carthage held A.D. 397, a bishop had sometimes only one presbyter under his care. See Dupin's account of the Council.

[599:3] Bingham, i. 198; and Beveridge, "Cotelerius," tom. ii. App. p. 17.

[600:1] See Period II. sec. i. chap. ii. p. 302, and p. 355.

[601:1] Euseb. vi. 43.

[601:2] Bunsen's "Hippolytus," iii. 50. Another canon says--"_He who is worthy out of the bishops_ ... putteth his hand upon him whom they have made bishop, praying over him."--Bunsen, iii. 42.

[601:3] See chapter viii. of this section, pp. 565, 567.

[602:1] Bunsen, iii. 111.

[602:2] Euseb. viii. 1.

[603:1] The following observation of a distinguished writer of the Church of England is well worthy of consideration. "The remains of ancient ecclesiastical literature, especially those of the Latin Church, teach us that the corruption of Christianity of which Romanism is the full development, manifested itself, in the first instance, _not in the doctrines which relate to the spiriting life of the individual_, but in those connected with _the constitution and authority_ of the Christian society."--_Litton's Church of Christ_, p. 12.

[604:1] "Can. Apost." xiv. "Concil. Nic." xv.

[604:2] Euseb. "Martyrs of Palestine," c. 12.

[604:3] Euseb. viii. i.

[605:1] Acts xxvi. 16-18.

[605:2] Such was the case with the churches mentioned Acts xiv. 23, and Titus i. 5.

[606:1] Trajan regarded with great suspicion all associations, even fire brigades and charitable societies. See Pliny's "Letters," book x., letters 43 and 94.

[607:1] Such as Mosheim, "Instit." i. 149, 150; Neander, "General History," i. 281.

[607:2] During the first forty years of the second century Gnosticism did not excite much notice, and as the Church courts must have been occupied chiefly with matters of mere routine, it is not remarkable that their proceedings have not been recorded.

[607:3] We have no contemporary evidence to prove that _ordinations_ took place in the former half of the second century, and yet we cannot doubt their occurrence.

[608:1] Acts xx. 17.

[608:2] "In Mileto enim convocatis episcopis et presbyteris, qui erant ab Epheso et a reliquis proximis civitatibus."--_Contra Haeres_, iii. c. 14. § 2.

[608:3] Cyprian, Epist. lxviii. § 256.

[608:4] The new bishop was often chosen before the interment of his predecessor; and even when the senior elder was the president, it is probable that the neighbouring pastors assembled to attend the funeral of the deceased pastor, and to be present at the inauguration of his successor.

[609:1] See Chapter vi. of this Section, p. 524.

[609:2] The old writer called Praedestinatus speaks of several synods held in reference to the Gnostics before the middle of the second century. He may have had access to some documents now lost, but the testimony of a witness who lived in the fifth or sixth century is not of much value.

[610:1] "In toto orbe decretum est ut unus de presbyteris electus superponeretur caeteris."--_Com. in Titum_.

[610:2] Euseb. v. 16.

[610:3] See Routh's "Reliquiae," ii. 183, 195.

[611:1] Mosheim ("Commentaries" by Vidal, ii. 105) has made a vain attempt to set aside the Latin translation of this passage by Valesius, as he saw that it completely upsets his favourite theory. But any one who carefully examines the Greek of Eusebius may see that the rendering complained of is quite correct. It cannot be necessary to point out to the intelligent reader the transparent sophistry of nearly all that Mosheim has written on this subject.

[611:2] Euseb. v. 23.

[612:1] See Period II. sec. iii. chap. v. p. 509.

[612:2] Tertullian, "De Jejun," c. xiii.

[613:1] "Aguntur praeterea _per Graecias_ illa certis in locis concilia ex universis ecclesiis."

[613:2] "Ipsa repraesentatio totius nominis Christiani magna veneratione celebratur." Mosheim argues from these words that the bishops attended these assemblies, not by right of office, but as _representatives of the people_! He might, with more plausibility, have contended that they were held only once a year. "Ista _sollemnia_ quibus tunc praesens patrocinatus est sermo."

[614:1] Euseb. v. 24. Hippolytus complains of a bishop of Rome that he was "ignorant of the _ecclesiastical rules_,"--a plain proof, not only that synods were in existence in the West, but also that a knowledge of canon law was considered an important accomplishment. See Bunsen, ii. 223.

[614:2] Cyprian (Epist. lxxiii.) speaks of a large council held "many years" before his time "under Agrippinus," one of his predecessors. This bishop appears to have been contemporary with Tertullian.

[614:3] In his book "De Pudicitia," c. 10, he speaks of the "Pastor" of Hermas as classed among apocryphal productions "_ab omni concilio ecclesiarum_"--implying that it had been condemned by African councils, as well as others.

[614:4] The prevalence of the Montanistic spirit in Asia Minor may account for this.

[615:1] See Potter's "Antiquities of Greece," i. 106.

[615:2] See Mosheim's "Commentaries," cent. ii. sect. 22.

[616:1] "Per singulos annos seniores et praepositi in unum conveniamus."

[616:2] Cyprian, Epist. lxxv. pp. 302, 303.

[616:3] In Africa, however, this arrangement was not established even in the fifth century. There, the senior bishop still continued president.

[617:1] This canon somewhat differs from the fifth of the Council of Nice, as the latter requires the first meeting to be held "before Lent." It is somewhat doubtful which canon is of higher antiquity.

[619:1] "Seniores et praepositi."--_Epist. Cypriani, Opera_, p. 302.

[619:2] "The Councils of the Church," by Rev. E.B. Pusey, D.D., p. 34 Oxford, 1857.

[619:3] Pusey, p. 58.

[619:4] Ibid. p. 66.

[619:5] Ibid. p. 95.

[619:6] As in the case of Athanasius at the Council of Nice.

[619:7] As witnesses and commissioners may still be heard by Church courts.

[619:8] "Graviter commoti sumus ego et collegae mei qui praesentes aderant et _compresbyteri nostri qui nobis assidebant"--Cyprian_, Epist. lxvi. p. 245. "_Residentibus_ etiam viginti et sex _presbyteris, adstantibus diaconibus et omni plebe."--Concil. Illiberit_.

[620:1] Euseb. vii. 30.

[621:1] Prov. xi. 14.

[621:2] Mosheim's "Institutes," by Soames, i. 150.

[624:1] See Mosheim's "Commentaries," cent. ii. sec. 39; American edition by Murdock.

[624:2] Acts xxiv. 5.

[624:3] Euseb. iv. 5.

[625:1] The English name _Easter_ is derived from that of a Teutonic goddess whose festival was celebrated by the ancient Saxons in the month of April, and for which the Paschal feast was substituted.

[626:1] Pentecost, called Whitsunday or White-Sunday, on account of the white garments worn by those who then received baptism, was observed as early as the beginning of the third century. Origen, "Contra Celsum," book viii. Tertullian, "De Idololatria," c. 14. We have then no trace of the observation of Christmas. See Kaye's "Tertullian," p. 413.

[626:2] See Mosheim's "Commentaries," by Murdock, cent. ii. sec. 71. Dr Schaff seems disposed to deny this, but he assigns no reasons. See his "Hist. of the Christ. Church," p. 374.

[626:3] Even as to this point there is not unanimity--some alleging that our Lord partook of the Paschal lamb on the night preceding that on which it was eaten by the Jews.

[627:1] This is distinctly asserted by Irenaeus. "Anicetus and Pius, Hyginus with Telesphorus and Xystus, neither did themselves observe, nor did they permit those after them to observe it. And yet though they themselves did not keep it, they were not the less at peace with those from churches where it was kept, whenever they came to them, although to keep it then was so much the more in opposition to those who did not."--_Euseb._ v. 24.

[629:1] It would appear that the Armenians, the Copts, and others, still observe this rite. Mosheim's "Comment." cent. ii. sec. 71. As to the continuance of this custom at Rome, see Bingham, v. 36, 37.

[629:2] Socrates, an ecclesiastical historian of the fifth century, has expressed himself with remarkable candour on this subject. "It appears to me," says he, "that neither the ancients nor moderns who have affected to follow the Jews have had any rational foundation for contending so obstinately about it (Easter). For they have altogether lost sight of the fact that when our religion superseded the Jewish economy, the obligation to observe the Mosaic law and the ceremonial types ceased.... The Saviour and His apostles have enjoined us by no law to keep this feast: nor in the New Testament are we threatened with any penalty, punishment, or curse for the neglect of it, as the Mosaic law does the Jews."--_Ecc. Hist._ v. c. 22.

[629:3] This system seems to have been in existence in the time of Tertullian. See Tertullian, "Ad. Martyr." c. 1., and "De Pudicitia," c. 22.

[630:1] Cyprian speaks of a confessor spending his time "in drunkenness and revealing," (_Epist._ vi. p. 37,) and of some guilty of "fraud, fornication, and adultery." (_De Unit. Ecc._ p. 404.)

[630:2] Thus Cyprian says--"Lucianus, not only while Paulus was still in prison, gave letters in his name _indiscriminately_ written with his own hand, but _even after his decease_ continued to do the same in his name, saying that he had been ordered to do so by Paulus."--_Epist._ xxii. p. 77.

[630:3] Cyprian, Epist. x. p. 52.

[631:1] Apostasy in time of persecution was considered a mortal sin. Adultery was placed in the same category. Cyprian, Epist. lii. p. 155. At one time Cyprian himself held the sentiments of the stricter party. See his "Scripture Testimonies against the Jews," book iii. § 28, p. 563.

[633:1] Cyprian, Epist. lxxiii. p. 279, and lxxiv. p. 295.

[633:2] Cyprian, Epist. lxxiii. p. 277, 278.

[634:1] In Stieren's "Irenaeus," i. 824, there is a different reading of this passage, according to which some continued the fast forty days.

[634:2] Euseb. v. 24.

[636:1] John x. 11, 27, 28.

[636:2] Eph. v. 25-27.

[636:3] Matt, xxviii. 20.

[636:4] 1 Pet. i. 5.

[636:5] Matt. xvi. 18.

[637:1] Eph. iv. 3.

[637:2] Eph. iv. 13.

[637:3] Eph. iv. 13.

[637:4] No writer since the Reformation has discussed the subject of the Church with more learning and ability than the Rev. Dr Hodge of Princeton. Those who wish to be thoroughly acquainted with all the bearings of the question should consult his "Essays and Reviews," New York, 1857. Also the "Princeton Review." See also an article of his taken from the "Princeton Review" in the "British and Foreign Evangelical Review" for Sept. 1854.

[637:5] Matt. xiii. 47-50.

[638:1] 1 Cor. i. 11, 12.

[638:2] Gal. i. 6, iii. 1.

[638:3] Rev. iii. 1.

[639:1] Thus, Melito of Sardis is said to have written a work "On the Church." Euseb. iv. 26.

[639:2] Apostles' Creed. For another form see Bunsen's "Hippolytus," iii. 25, 27.

[640:1] 3 John 9, 10.

[640:2] He appears, for certain reasons now unknown, to have been dissatisfied with some disciples who had been engaged in missionary work; and he had influence sufficient to procure the excommunication of the brethren who entertained them.

[640:3] He would be a bold man who would assert that all the pious members of the Society of Friends are in a hopeless condition.

[641:1] Heb. xii. 23.

[641:2] See Rothe's "Anfange der Christlichen Kirche," p. 575.

[641:3] Cyprian, Epist. lxxvi. p. 316.

[641:4] Epist. lxix. p. 265.

[641:5] Epist. lxii. p. 221.

[642:1] "De Unit. Ecc." p. 397. See also Lactantius, "De Vera Sapientia," lib. iv. p. 282.

[642:2] Eph. iv. 12.

[642:3] Acts xx. 32.

[643:1] Rev. i. 6.

[644:1] If our authorized version of the English Bible is to be regarded as a standard of correct usage, the word priest cannot be properly employed to designate a Christian minister. In the New Testament, as stated in the text, a minister of the word is never called a _priest_ ([Greek: hiereus]), and the latter term, when used in reference to an official personage in our English Bible, always denotes an individual _who offers sacrifice_. To call a gospel minister a priest is, therefore, at once to adopt an incorrect expression and to insinuate a false doctrine. The English word priest is derived, not as some say, from the Greek [Greek: presbuteros] through the French _prêtre_, but from the Greek [Greek: proestôs], in Latin _praestes_, and in Saxon _preost_. See Webster's "Dictionary of the English Language."

[644:2] Epist. lxix. p. 264.

[644:3] Thus, Tertullian speaks of the "ordo sacerdotalis." "De Exhor. Cast." c. vii.

[645:1] Cyprian, Epist. lxiii. p. 230; lxiv. p. 239.

[645:2] Cyprian, Epist. lxix. p. 264. Cotelerius, i. 442. The Eucharist is called a sacrifice by Justin Martyr (see his Dialogue with Trypho., "Opera," p. 260) apparently in a figurative sense, but when dispensed by a minister called a _priest_, such language became exceedingly liable to misconception.

[645:3] In proof of this see Cyprian, Epist. lvi. p. 200, and lxiii. p. 231. In the former place Cyprian says--"Mindful of the Eucharist, the hand which has received _the Lord's body_ may embrace the _Lord himself_."

[645:4] Heb. v. 4; Acts xx. 28, xxvi. 16.

[646:1] Cyprian, Epist. xlvi. p. 136.

[646:2] Epist. lxix. p. 262. See also Epist. lv. p. 177. "If any amount of difference of opinion as to the truth or untruth of the teaching of a geographical priesthood, will justify separation under another Christian ministry, then it at once ceases to be true that there _can_ be but one bishop, or one priest, over any given area in which such differences exist; there then _may_ obviously be as many bishops, or as many priests, as there may be different bodies of men differing from each other's teaching in what they deem sufficiently essential points to justify separation."--_Letter from the Duke of Argyll to the Bishop of Oxford_, p. 8.

[647:1] Epist. lxix. p. 264.

[647:2] Acts x. 48.

[648:1] Jerome, "Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Writers."

[648:2] Some of those called heretics had many martyrs. Euseb. v. 16.

[648:3] "De Unit. Ecc." Opera, p. 399.

[648:4] "De Unit. Ecc." p. 401.

[648:5] "De Unit. Ecc." p. 401.

[649:1] Jeremiah xxiii. 21, 22.

[649:2] Phil. i. 15, 18. See also Mark ix. 38, 39.

[649:3] Cyprian himself makes this admission. Epist. lxxvi. p. 319.

[649:4] Epist. lii. p. 156.

[649:5] Epist. lxxvi. p. 319.

[650:1] Rom. x. 13,17.

[650:2] Tertullian did not hold the doctrine of her perpetual virginity. See "De Monog." c. 8, and "De Carne Christi," c. 23. Neither did he believe in her immaculate conception. See Kaye's "Tertullian," p. 338.

[652:1] One of the most distinguished and sagacious of modern missionaries has called attention to this fact. See Livingstone's "Missionary Travels in South Africa," p. 107.

[654:1] Maximian, in his famous edict of toleration, lays great stress on this circumstance. "De Mortibus Persecutorum," c. 34.

[654:2] Cornelius to Cyprian, Epist. xlvi. p. 136.

[654:3] "De Unit. Eccles." p. 397.

[654:4] Epist. lii. p. 156.

[654:5] Matt. xvi. 18.

[654:6] Cyprian, Epist. xl. pp. 120, 121.

[656:1] 2 Cor. iii. 17.

[656:2] Isa. xl. 4, 5.

[656:3] Isa. lii. 8.

[656:4] Zech. xiv. 9.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Ancient Church, by W.D. [William Dool] Killen